I prefer the first season, simply because it had alot more sad endings. Sad, bloody ending, where good friends turn against each other for dark, unexplained reasons. and i REALLY,REALLY, like the ending of the first season, with all the sad, bloody endings that almost happy ending really made me feel it. id say thats my 2nd most fave ending, next to Melacholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. the 2nd season has to explain alot, and the ends up makin it harder not to have alot of talk, so i like the 2nd season too. but, i must say, that whole horror/detective aspect when youre ttrying to peice everything together in the first season really clicks with me.

well...like word "kai" in japanese or chinese, it means to open as to reveal and solve.
first season is explaining and building suspense and all...and the second season is to explain and solve everything...so the two season kinda have different purpose.
but i personally like the second season better because i don't know why....

It's hard to decide since its the same series, but if I had to choose one, it'd be Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (first season). It had the whole supernatural and unexplainable feeling to it. There's a lot of paranoia and mystery going on too. A lot unexplained things happen making you wonder how and why it happened. Wondering who those men in the white van were. It gets you reallly into the series.

Everything is explain the second season which makes it lose its supernatural feel (except for Hanyuu) since everything now has a reason why it happened. Its great that everything is explained but if you compare the 2 seasons side by side, the first come out on top.

First one for sure. I love kai, and I understand that it's meant to clear everything up. I'm satisfied with the way it's doing that. More than satisfied. However, I liked being in the dark and trying to make sense of things. I loved the whole mystery of the first season.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. I mean, I've always loved Hanyuu, and finally getting to see her get her body in the anime a couple weeks ago was real treat, but come on, Shion ripping off her fingernails? That was a Higu CLASSIC! Besides, Season 1 totally gave Rena more air time, and let's face it, she totally pwns! And her knife is beastin'!